Power lies deep withinby FedrianaChapters1 - An unexpected arrival2 - Actions and consequences3 - An ancient threat4 - Identities revealed5 - Of angels and demons6 - To save the world1 - An unexpected arrivalIt was a summer's morning. The sun had not yet given the fullness of it's warmth. A soothing breeze came through the opened window. It carried the smell of the bakery a couple of streets away. Soon, as the sun would rise, it would become very warm. Most of the working ponies wanted to do their work before then, no one liked to work in the heat of the day. There were a few pegasi moving some stubborn clouds that had formed during the coolness of the night. A few birds sang a song to welcome another beautiful day. Life was as it had always been in Equestria. No need to rush, everything went, as most of the times, according to plan. Twilight Sparkle woke up from the smell of the bakery. Her stomach growled as she smelled the delicious scent of fresh baked bread. Spike was, as he did every morning, already up making her breakfast. As always, it was a few slices of bread, some flower petals and a nice glass of apple juice. "Nothing better than to start the morning then with a good breakfast", she thought to herself. After her breakfast, Twilight went to the main room in her library to retrieve the books she was studying. She still had a lot of work to do before she would be able to take her next magic test. She decided to do some practice with spells she had already mastered before she would dive into the books, . "It's important to keep refining your skills, even after you are fully capable of performing them", Celestia had once said to her. So she did. A few weeks ago, she had studied transportation magic. There were a few spells she wanted to try again, like the portal spell and the teleportation of objects on short distances. "Spike!", Twilight said. "Could you fill a few crates with something so that I can practice teleportation of objects again?". "Sure!", Spike yelled from the other room. "Good", Twilight thought, "Now I can open a few portals while Spike prepares the teleportation practice" It had cost her more than a month to get it right, but she was now fully capable to open up portals for short to medium distances. "For this practice, I'll simply open a portal to my bedroom, and then to the main room", she spoke to herself. Her horn glowed while she concentrated on opening the portal. After a few seconds, the air in front of her began to glow as well. Then, it was like someone pulled open an invisible curtain. The opening revealed a passage to her room. Twilight stepped through the portal into her room. "Phew", she sighed, "Now to the main library room". Again, the air was pulled open and she stepped through the portal into the main library room. "Perfect!", she said while showing a smile, "I'm starting to get really good at conjuring portals now". She closed the portals with another spell. She was about to go out to the kitchen to meet Spike, but he came running into the room before she was able to. "Twilight", he looked worried. "I just received this letter from the princess, it wasn't sealed like it normally is... you might want to take a look at it". Twilight used her levitation magic to open the letter. It looked like the princess didn't have much time to write it, the characters were messy and it only contained a few words: "Twilight, gather your friends and come as quick as you can. Very important. Equestria might be in danger". Twilights expression went from slightly glad to very worried. "Equestria in danger?", she said with a low voice. It took her a moment to make sense of what the princess had written. "Come spike, we must hurry. Go get Pinkie Pie and Rarity while I get Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy". "You got it!", Spike replied as he ran outside. About fifteen minutes later, all six friends had joined in front of the library. Twilight had already told them what she had heard from Celestia. All of them looked worried. "Celestia isn't normally as brief as this", Applejack said. "We must hurry, this might get real ugly real fast" "Spike, please stay here and keep an eye on the library, i’ll let you know what’s happening as soon as I can". Twilight said. Spike clearly didn’t agree, but he nodded anyway. "I'll open a portal to Canterlot", Twilight said. "It's further than I have ever tried, but it's the fastest way to get there. Make sure you step through it as fast as possible, because I don't know how long I can keep it open". "Do we have to?" Fluttershy asked. She looked scared. Her wings were clenched to her body and her ears hang down. Her eyes were large, but her pupils had constricted to tiny circles. "If Equestria is in danger, we have to do everything we can!" Rainbow Dash said firmly. "Come on darling", Rarity spoke. "The throne room is the safest place we could be right now. It's filled with royal guard, and don't forget that the princess Celestia and Luna are there too!" This set Fluttershy somewhat at ease. Twilight had a lot of trouble opening a portal on this range. Her horn sparkled, she was heavily sweating, but she did it, the portal opened. As quick as they could, the six friends jumped through it. Twilight could only keep the portal opened for a few seconds, but they all made it through before it closed. What they saw then took them a few moments to grasp. This was not what they had in mind. The room was indeed filled with royal guard. They were all standing in a large circle formation, weapons drawn. The pegasi guards were flying above the circle, making it more of a half sphere. They too had drawn their weapons. The unicorn guards had split up. Half of them were at the throne, casting a protective barrier around the two princesses, Celestia and Luna. The others were part of the sphere formation, horns glowing, ready to attack. Right in front of the protective barrier, facing the middle of the sphere formation was Shining Armour. He also had his horn glowing, but looked much calmer than the other guards. He analyzed the situation carefully. However, clearly not knowing what to expect, he had his guard up. Celestia and Luna both looked as if what they were seeing was the last thing they had expected, but not as if they had not expected it at all. They both stood upright, as the royalties they were, ready to face anything that came their way. Only slightly letting their fear shine through the almost impeccable expressions on their faces. The atmosphere of the room was heavy. Not only from the high tension from the situation, but also literally. It was if there was a lightning storm going on, only without thunder. Electricity flashed through the air all around the room. Twilight knew that this was some sort of powerful magic. And it all seemed to radiate from the middle of the sphere formation that the guards had formed. In the middle of the sphere formation there was another creature. Something Twilight had never seen before. It was standing upright, on two legs. It's head was on top of it's body. In fact, anatomy wise it wasn't very different from a pony. it's arms hung from down it's shoulders. It was very masculine. It’s arms were as thick as two of her hoofs put together. It did not seem to have a coat. It seemed like the only hair it had was on it's head and it's chest. On it's back where a pair of majestic wings. They rose above it's head and went down to just below it's waist. They were closed, but Twilight imagined they had a span of about three meters across. It had a red cloth belt tied around a cloth sort of pants that dropped down to just below it's knees. It had relatively large feet, instead of hooves. It's head was bowed down, it's chin rested on it's bare chest. It's eyes were closed, as if it did not need to see what was happening, as if it could feel what was happening all around it. It seemed as if it was fully at rest. It did not seem to have it's guard up, even though it was surrounded by over one hundred guards, all with drawn weapons. 2 - Actions and consequencesEverything went too fast for Twilight. First, she got a letter telling her that something terrible was coming up and now it had already happened? What happened? What was that creature? What were it's intentions? What was her teacher doing? She had so many questions, but right now there was nothing she could do. The portal had brought them right into the middle of the chaos. They were outside of the circle, on the other side of the room from the princesses. There was no way to reach them. Celestia had seen them enter the room. She signaled Twilight to stand still. "Stay here everyone!" Twilight said to her friends, "Until we know what is going on we should not provoke that creature". It came too late. Rainbow Dash had already taken off. A few moments later she landed in front of the creature. "Hey you!", she yelled, "What in the hay do you think you're doing!" "MOVE AWAY FROM THERE RAINBOW DASH", Celestia said with a strong, royal voice. "She is of no threat to you", she spoke to the creature. The creature raised it's head and opened it's eyes. The expression on his face clearly showed his patience was running short. "You know I did not come here to fight", it spoke with a surprisingly soft voice. Then with a firmer, almost threatening voice it said: "If I wanted to harm you I would have destroyed this city long before you would have realized that I was here". It closed it's eyes and sighed. This was the moment Shining Armour saw an opening. The creature’s guard was down, even if it was for just a moment. He jumped on the opportunity to attack. The next events happened in a split second. Shining Armour had jumped towards the creature, his horn glowing more fiercely than before. He was ready to fire his shot. Celestia raised her hoof, as if she wanted to grab the captain of the guard and stop him. Her mouth opened to call him back, but it was too late. The electricity in the air crackled loudly. Shining Armour realized that the creature had not dropped it's guard. He had made a grave mistake. The creature's arm shot out. It glowed the same way a unicorn's horn glowed when casting magic. It’s open palm crashed into his chest. His armour cracked under the pressure of the enormous force of the hit. He was thrown back into the wall behind the princesses, where he landed on the ground. He did not move. The electricity faded from the room. The guards that surrounded the creature watched with open mouths as their captain was defeated in a single hit. They took a step back, not knowing what to do for a second. Their loyalty would soon compel them to launch an all out attack. A battle, they all knew, they would not win. "ALL OF YOU, LOWER YOUR WEAPONS!" Princess Celestia stepped forward, commanding the guards with the majestic tone of real royalty. "This is far beyond any of your power!", she said while lowering her voice and almost whispering she added: "Or mine" They obeyed their ruler. Twilight saw her brother's defeat. His landing against the wall, his fall on the ground. Tears shot into her eyes when she saw that he did not move after that. Like everyone, she realized that the force behind the attack of the creature was enough to destroy a building. She had to see to her brother! Her horn glowed as she teleported herself to his side. She didn’t even hear the princesses command to stay where she was. Her head brushed against his, as she asked what was on everyone's mind now. "Shining Armour?” “Big brother?” “Are you alright?” “Shining Armour!" He did not respond. She put her hoofs on his chest and shook his motionless body. "Wake up!” “Wake up!” “Shining Armour!” Tears were dripping from her face as she yelled in powerless frustration. “Wake up... PLEASE!" Everyone else in the room was silent. They could not believe what had just happened. All of them stood still, they could not move, they could not speak, they were completely frozen. They all felt as hopeless as Twilight. Their captain was defeated and there was nothing any of them could have done. The attack had come so fast that they didn't realize it had happened before Shining Armour had hit the ground. The creature sighed. "I'm sorry", it said, again with a soft voice, "it should not have come to this" It stepped towards Twilight and Shining Armour. The guards in it's path stepped aside. They would not dare draw their weapons anymore. It kneeled next to twilight, who was in tears. Sinking her head in Shining Armour's side. "I'm sorry little one, please, let me make this right" "You monster!" Twilight sobbed, watching the creature right in the eye. "You killed my brother! Get away from him!" She tried to push the creature away, frustrated, powerless, hopeless. The whole room held it's breath for what the creature would do. But it did nothing. It did not attack. The creature put one hand on Shining Armour's body. Twilight tried to stop it. She knew that she could do nothing against this creature that was almost three times bigger than she was, but in her sorrow she tried everything she could to keep him away. “Please... just leave us alone!”, she yelled. The creature's hand began to glow. After a few moments, the glow radiated to Shining Armour's entire body. This went on for about a minute. Twilight had moved in front of the creature, still sobbing while banging her head against it’s chest, as if she wanted to hurt him. Then, Shining Armour inhaled deeply and a few moments after that, opened his eyes. He looked confused. "Do you remember what happened?" The creature asked. "Yes", Shining Armour replied. He tried to pull Twilight away from the creature’s chest. Afraid that it would hurt her too. "I'm truly sorry about what I did" it said. "I let my frustration get the better of me, and defended against your attack, knowing that it was too powerful for you". It bowed its head. "I'm sorry", it whispered. "Even after all this time, I'm only human" 3 - An ancient threatAfter Twilight had realized that her brother was alive, she jumped on him, hooves around his neck. "Shining Armour! I... I thought I'd lost you", she said, tears still in her eyes. "I'm alright Twily", he responded in a soft tone and a with smile while putting his own hooves around her. "I'm alright". As Shining Armour got up, the atmosphere in the room went from shocked to worried. Everyone has the same questions on their mind. What had just happened? Who is that creature? What's a human? Why is he here? Celestia knew she would have to explain, so she took a step forward. "Everypony! Please, calm down”, she said. Shining Armour is alright. All guards, except for Shining Armour, leave us" This caused much mumbling and disagreement, but they listened, knowing better than to disobey an order of their princess during such times. "You six should also stay", she said to Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. They gathered into a circle and sat down. The human was very big compared to the rest of them while standing, but while sitting down the difference was only about the size of it's head. He was back to his calm self again. As if nothing could bother him, his face only gave away a little sadness. He sat down with his legs crossed, his arms in rest on top of them. The other's could not keep their eyes away from the, in their eyes, dangerous creature. After some time, completely unexpected, Fluttershy was the first to ask the human a question. "Um... excuse me", she whispered. "Could you... um... tell us what kind of creature you are?" She quickly added "If you want to", while turning her head away, as if she expected him to explode in fury against her. "No!", Celestia interrupted. "Tell me why you are here. You promised me to never set foot in Equestria again" The others were surprised about that last sentence. Clearly this human and the princess had a history. The human nodded. He bowed his head, as if he was deep in thought. "I never stayed far away of Equestria", he spoke. "We know", Celestia said. "Then you also know about my countless battles against your enemies", he responded while looking Celestia right in the eyes. This time Celestia looked down, as if she was ashamed. "I know", she whispered, "I meant to thank you one day, I really did." "I never asked for your gratitude princess", his tone became deeper, more emotional, “all I ever asked for was a place in this land, something you denied me." These words seemed to touch Celestia deeply. For the slightest of moments, she showed deep shame. "I was afraid", she said. "I was afraid that, even though you were noble and honest, your past would taint us eventually. It was a risk we could not take." "I know my flaws princess", it replied. "You made your decision and I accepted it. But even though I was rejected, my promise from before compelled me to keep this land safe." Celestia replied with a bit of disbelief in her voice. "You mean to say that you held your promise, even though we broke our end of it?" "Yes", he simply replied. A moment of silence followed. No one knew what to say, or to whom. For the six, none of their questions had been answered. No, they only had more questions now. What was the human's relationship with Celestia? She clearly knows him and has dealt with him before. What was he doing all this time? What did he promise? What are his intentions? "I will tell you why I came here, and then I will leave", the human finally spoke. "You do not seem to have changed your mind, even after all this time". Celestia's face didn't show her emotions. She knew that this man would never have come here if it was not crucial. She had to know why before she would respond to his accusation. She had to know for the sake of her subjects. "I fought an old enemy two weeks ago in the desert lands to the south of Equestria", he said. "Atum Ra" This was something that clearly upset both princesses. "That can not be", Luna claimed. This was the first time she spoke during the whole ordeal. "He was defeated more than two thousand years ago! You yourself locked him in his eternal prison beneath the desert sand" Her voice and face expressed fear. It seems that this was an enemy that even the two rulers of Equestria were afraid of. Apparently even more than of the human that sat in front of them. "This is terrible news", Celestia spoke to the six. "An ancient evil that we had locked away, has returned" "You said you fought him", Rainbow Dash directed her question towards the human. "You showed us your strength just a minute ago, you must have defeated him". Even though she said it as a statement, the doubt in her voice showed that it was more of a question. "What you saw was nothing like my true strength", the human said. "But even with all my might, I could not hope to defeat an ancient creature like that". He bowed his head, carefully considering his next words. "I managed to imprison him in the southern desert once again, but, I was badly injured during our fight, and I could not imprison him for long". Celestia and Luna knew exactly what the human was about to say. “He will return, and it will be sooner than later". A moment of silence followed. "When he is freed, he will be much stronger than he was two weeks ago, and I fear that I will not be able to stop him again" "If nothing is done, Equestria will be destroyed when he returns" 4 - Identities revealedThey sat there in silence for more than ten minutes. Nobody dared to say a word. The expression on the human's face was dead serious. He had told them the truth, and they all knew it. Equestria was in great danger. "I must go", the human finally spoke, "it is clear that I am still not welcome here. I will find a way on my own" He looked sad when he said those words. "Wait", Luna spoke while she jumped up, "things have changed since you were last here. We were wrong" "What do you mean?", the human asked, showing his surprise. "Luna was corrupted one thousand years ago", Celestia spoke. "It seems that evil does exist inside of us, even though I thought we had banished it forever" The human considered these words for a moment. "Your kind shows great resistance", he then spoke, "but with time, even the strongest of us can fall, I told you this before" "And you were right", Luna continued, "if you would have been around, maybe your experience could have guided us, but we were afraid that you would be the cause of evil in this land" "What's done is done, and could not have happened otherwise", the human said, "the question is, what will you do now that you have learned the truth?" Celestia and Luna didn't respond, they were considering their options. "Give us a moment", Celestia finally spoke, "Luna, come with me please" Luna didn't say a word, she went to the next room with Celestia. This left Shining Armour, Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy together with the human. The expression on the human's face was more gentle now, he had done what he had set out to do, it was up to the princesses to make a decision. "You asked me what kind of creature I am", the human spoke to Fluttershy, "The short answer is that I am human, but that is not entirely accurate. Before ponies came to this world, I was a human. The main difference between humans and me, is that humans do not have wings or magic. Humans are, however, very strong compared to the strength of ponies. I would classify myself at about ten times as strong as an average pony when I was still human. I travelled around the entire world and in time, I found myself absorbing various essences from this word. You know these essences as magic. Only a select few humans have been able to attain magic, since none of us are born with it. After I learned how to perform magic, it's effects slowly transformed me until I became a mythical creature of my time. " "We were called Angels." "What's your name?" Pinkie Pie asked. Now that the tension of the first meeting had gone away, she was back to her cheerful self. "The name I once had I have long forgotten", he said in a low voice, "the enemies of this land simply call me 'The Angel". Before he could continue, a voice from behind them said: "We know him as Michael". It was Luna, she had returned from her meeting with Celestia, but Celestia herself was still in the other room. "He is the last of his kind, the legendary race of humans" "That is correct", Michael responded. "The ancient scriptures of my time spoke of legions of angels. It was said that their leaders were called ‘Archangels. The writings told us about six archangels. One of them was named Michael, that is the name I choose for myself." "How old are you?" Rarity asked. "By what princess Luna said earlier, you must be more than two thousand years old" "Yes", Michael responded, "The line of humans was ended a little over three thousand years ago, roughly five hundred years after ponies first came to existence. I was sixty years old when I transcended to be an angel. That was about thirty eight hundred years ago" "What happened to the others of your kind?", Applejack asked. Michael's face expressed sadness and anger at the same time. "It's a long and painful story", he responded, "I will tell you when and if the time is right." Finally Shining Armour had a question. "What is your relationship with the princesses?", he asked. He tried to read the faces of both Luna and Michael, but was not able to determine what was going on in their thoughts. "That too is a long story", Michael said. "Let's just say that we met after they had taken over the rule of Equestria. I stayed within it's borders for a while, before Luna and Celestia decided that my presence was a danger to your peace. They were right, at least, that is what I thought back then. We agreed that I would never return to Equestria, the rest has already been revealed by our conversation earlier" "Michael". Celestia had returned from the other room, and directed her speech towards the angel. "We are greatly in your debt. Without you, Equestria would be in constant war with the forces of evil. You have given us the peace that we have lived in for over two thousand years. I know not why you did not give up after such a long time, but I am eternally grateful to you" Michael did not respond, so Celestia continued her speech. "The news you bring is terrible. We must prepare for a war that our kind has not seen for many generations. I'm afraid that we can never hope to defend ourselves during these times. Not even the Elements of Harmony could bring Atum Ra to his knees so long ago. Please, I beg of you, even though we do not deserve any of your kindness, help us defeat this evil. Help us prepare for the fight that is to come". The tremor in Celestia's voice gave away that she did not want to ask this. She knew it wasn't in her right to ask such a thing from the angel. "Dear Celestia", Michael responded, again with a kindness in his voice, "you know you can ask me anything any time. I owe so much to the short time I lived in these borders, and I swore to be there for Equestria, always. I'm glad that I get to live here once more.” "Thank you", Celestia replied, faintly smiling. "You all must still have so much to ask me", Michael said to everyone in the circle, "But I must ask you to keep those questions with you for a while. My wounds have only barely healed, and I must rest from the journey I made to get here. Please, come see me in the morning. We will talk then". Michael rose up and walked out of the room. He seemed to know where he was going. Shining Armour followed him from a distance. He wanted to know where this man was going and he had to make sure that no pony disturbed him. He still didn’t trust the angel. Once outside, Michael spread his wings, and with a mighty swing, he soared up towards the mountain top, where he hid between the clouds. "He will return in the morning Captain", Luna said from behind Shining Armour, "Trust him, he will never betray a promise he made". "Can I ever fully trust someone that almost killed me without the slightest hesitation? He's dangerous!" Shining Armour said in a deep voice. "Please forgive him” Luna responded, “He has come to know great pain in the past. Their kind never ceases to struggle with evil" 5 - Of angels and demonsTwilight could not sleep. She remembered how she woke up this morning. She remembered the bakery. Then she remembered holding her brother in her arms. She remembered being so desperate. Tears welled up in her eyes again. That monster killed her brother. He can not be trusted. But her teacher and princess Luna seemed to have forgiven him so easily. How could they do that? What was going on? She decided to get up. She couldn't sleep with so many questions on her mind. She needed to know the truth. She had to know what happened to humans. The Canterlot library would surely have the answer. She was careful not to wake any of her friends, who were also sleeping in the same palace room as she was. Luckily, they were all soundly asleep, tired from the events that had transpired today. She made her way to the library. It was only a few streets away from the palace. When she got to the library, she found that the door was unlocked. That was unusual. The library should have been closed at this hour. She still had the key from when she was still studying in Canterlot, but apparently someone else was also in need of knowledge at this hour. She walked into the library. "Hello? is anypony there?" she asked. "Twilight Sparkle", it was princess Celestia, "I should have known that you would not be able to sleep after what happened today". "Princess Celestia?" She had not expected to meet the princess here at this hour. "I'm sorry, I had to know what a human was doing in Equestria, so I came here to investigate" "The legends of humans can no longer be found in this library", Celestia answered. "It is a legend that could harm our peace in so many ways. But you deserve an explanation after what happened today". "It all started about ten thousand years ago", Celestia began. "Humans were a noble race, that ruled this world with their ingenious minds and their technology. They were always busy inventing something new to make their lives easier. They did not possess magic, nor could they fly, but they managed to invent machines that performed all the things that we use magic and flight for. Then, after about four thousand years, the first human obtained magic. When his fellow humans discovered this, they were so afraid that they banished him from their lands. It was decreed that any who sought magic would be severely punished. After that, some humans decided to hunt the magic user. They managed to kill him. This was the first known act of human cruelty. Humans have a strong tendency to fear and exclude everything they view as different or out of the ordinary. After that, human history is filled with horrors. There were countless wars in the next two thousand years. The human race was divided into five tribes and every tribe fought the others to gain power over the world. The legends tell us that every one of the five tribes had a son born during the same week. These sons grew up into the strongest warriors the human race had ever seen. All of them became the leader of their tribe. They still continued waging war against each other. After numerous battles, each of the men appeared to be just as strong as the others. None of the tribes could win, and with so much death and destruction, the five men decided to stop their struggle for power. The tribe leaders realized that them being born in the same week was an act of fate. They were brothers, even though their blood was not related. They thought that they were tasked by fate to stop the endless bloodshed. The tribes each went their separate ways, colonizing different corners of the world. There was peace for the first time in two thousand years. The five men left their tribe to learn what they could about the world. During their travels, all of them attained magic powers. Michael was one of the tribes leaders. He was also the first to have ascended to being an angel. Immortal, wise and strong. The others would soon follow his ascension, as it was their destiny. They all considered Michael as their oldest brother, their leader." Celestia paused for a second. Twilight had been listening to the story intently. As the scholar she was, she was always looking for new knowledge to obtain. The look on her face told Celestia that she was eagerly waiting to hear the rest of the story. "However", Celestia continued, "Peace is always short lived with humans. With their new found power, the angels went back to their tribes, where they were all cast out. The humans, who were all still strong believers of science, could not except magic as their new ally, nor did they want to accept the other tribes as their equals. This upset the angels. It did not take long for four of them to grasp back on their human origins, and their anger consumed their hearts. In a meeting the five of them had, all but one swore to wage war against their own race. They were deeply corrupted, and them being so much more powerful meant that none of the tribes stood a chance. Michael tried to reason with them, he tried to stop them, and finally, he tried to force them, but he could not overpower his brethren. He was chained by the other angels on the top of the mountain of Canterlot, where he could see everything that would transpire that day. They each went out to perform the greatest evil this world has ever seen. Millions were killed in a single day. Everything was destroyed. Everything but the last tribe, Michael's tribe. When the four angels were done with their own tribes, they all faced to destroy the last standing tribe of humans. Michael however, because of the horrors he had witnessed from his prison, had summoned so much power that he was able to escape. But he was too late. His brothers had destroyed his tribe before he was able to get there. In his blind fury he waged war against his own brothers. The battle lasted for weeks. One against four. His pain had made Michael so strong that he, in the end, was able to defeat his brothers. One by one, he killed them. After that, his soul was deeply scarred. His fury had subsided, but revenge had not brought him peace. Nothing could soothe the pain of his loss. He had lost his brothers and the entire human race. In his grief, he returned to the place he had been imprisoned. He must have sat on the Canterlot mountains for centuries. Probably blaming himself for all that had transpired. Then, our ancestors founded Equestria. Michael saw everything what transpired during the next years. The peace that the ponies had. The balance in our lives, the harmony we had created. It is said that whenever evil was lurking, it was stopped by an unknown force. No one knew that it was, in fact, Michael who had taken it upon himself to defend this new ‘tribe’. I think he wanted to amend for the crimes he thought he had committed. Then Luna and I came to power in Equestria. We travelled a lot ourselves. When we came to the Canterlot mountain ridge, we felt a strange presence. As we went to investigate, we found the angel on the top of the mountain. His back facing us, he didn't speak as we approached him. We sat next to him for a while, probably days, admiring the view we had from the mountain's top. He could see everything that transpired in the entirety of Equestria, and he taught us to do so as well. That is why we build Canterlot and the royal palace on this mountain. He also promised us that whatever happened, he would do anything in his power to defend the harmony of Equestria and he asked us to trust him. He then told us his story. We did not know what to say, and that was probably the best response we could have given him. He started to trust us in return. We spoke to him often, and after a while, we asked him to come live with us in the castle. He accepted. The other ponies were very cautious of him, and he noticed this as well. He started to become bitter towards us, probably because he remembered what had caused his brothers to end the human race. He told us that the same feelings still resided deep in his heart, but that he would never lay a finger on this land. We saw the anger grow inside of him however, and we decided that it was best to ask him to leave. It took us awhile to summon the courage, for we were afraid that he would follow his brethren and would go on a rampage after we would reject him. None of that happened. He was sad, very sad, but he left without ever disagreeing with us. We thought we had found true peace. We thought that no evil from inside would hurt us any more" “We were so wrong” The princess noticed that the night would soon end. The moon had already moved out of sight. "Come", She said to Twilight, "Get some rest, the day before us will be long". "Princess", Twilight said, "Can I ask one more thing?". "Of course my faithful student", Celestia responded. "Are our hearts different from humans?". Celestia had not expected her student to ask this question so soon. "She is sharp as always", she thought to herself. She turned around to face Twilight. "No", she said. "I have come to learn that the same evil lies locked within our hearts. However, unlike the humans, we have had an angel watching us day and night to make sure that our hearts would be able to resist evil. We should be forever grateful for that". 6 - To save the worldMichael landed in front of the castle without any sound. In all his time as an angel he had learned to be extremely light on his feet. Even pegasi made sounds as they moved, but the angel did not. He stood there for a second while he folded his majestic wings onto his back. He pondered at the times he stood here, over one thousand years ago. The time when he left, walking over the very path he was now standing on. He remembered how he didn't look back. He remembered his fury about the situation. He remembered his sadness. He remembered his tears... He stared out over the small river that streamed in front of the castle. There was a bridge that spanned over it, allowing access to the castle. He stood at the edge of the bridge, still deep in thought. "Hey... um.... good.. eeh... good morning" a voice from behind him said. It was Twilight Sparkle. Michael turned around. "Oh, hello little one", he said, "I'm terribly sorry about what I put you through yesterday, I truly am. I hope that you can forgive me in time". He smiled ever so slightly. Twilight let out a slight sigh. "My name is Twilight Sparkle", she said, "I heard your story". That clearly upset the angel. His face showed sadness again. "That story is not meant for this land", he said, "she should not have told you". "I can not say I fully understand", Twilight responded, "but your story moved me. I was very upset yesterday. But I forgive you. And I know Shining Armour will also forgive you" The angel had bowed his head again. A single tear dropped from his eyes. "I do not deserve such kindness miss Sparkle. But thank you. Thank you so much. You can not begin to realize how much those words mean to me". Twilight wanted to help him somehow. She felt like the person in front of her was completely void. Like his existence had no meaning to himself. Like nothing could ever fill the emptiness in his heart again. She did the only thing that she thought she could do. She walked up to him, stood up onto her hind legs and put her front legs around his neck, resting his head on her left shoulder. This made the angel even more emotional. He let out a slight sound, as if he was crying inside. He put his arms around twilight's back. "You truly are too kind to me miss Sparkle", he whispered. "You can call me Twilight if you want, miss Sparkle is too formal", Twilight said after she had let go of the angel. The angel smiled. "Alright Twilight, I'll do that", Michael responded, "But only if you will call me Michael in return". Twilight smiled. "I will." They walked to the castle together. Twilight talked about her library in Ponyville. She told Michael about her studies, about Celestia being her teacher, about what she had learned about friendship. Michael didn't say much. He smiled all the way to the castle. He was clearly happy about the way Twilight talked to him. When they arrived at the throne room, Shining Armour was waiting outside the door. He frowned as he saw twilight talking to the angel that had made her experience such a tragedy the other day. "Can I talk to you for a second sis?", he asked Twilight. "You should get inside, the others are waiting for you", he said to Michael in a monotone voice. Michael nodded. "Alright", was all he said as he walked in. He knew it would take time to mend the wounds that he had inflicted upon the mind of the captain. When Michael was inside, Shining Armour started speaking to Twilight "What was that? have you lost your mind? He's dangerous!" Twilight bowed her head. "No he's not. You have no idea what he's gone through!" she spoke. "Twilight", Shining Armour replied, "have you forgotten what happened yesterday?" "No!", she responded. "But princess Celestia told me what happened in his past, and even though I do not fully understand, he deserves another chance!". Shining Armour frowned. "Princess Luna said the same thing to me yesterday. I hope you're right Twily" He looked troubled. "We should get inside", he said as he turned around. Inside the others were already gathered around a circular table. Celestia and Luna sat next to each other, facing the door. Michael sat next to Luna, then there was a gap of two chairs. Then there was Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie sat next to Celestia. It was clear that the five friends didn't dare to sit next to the angel yet. In their minds, he could not be trusted. Twilight chose to sit next to Applejack, making the row of six friends complete. Shining Armour took his place between Twilight and Michael. The six friends all had their attention on the angel. Twilight was the first to speak. "Princesses, if I may", she started. Both Luna and Celestia nodded. They wanted to know what would come next. "Princess Celestia told me the legend of humans tonight", Twilight continued, "I think everyone here should know what transpired in the ancient past. So that everyone here might understand what Michael is doing here". Celestia bit her lip. She knew Twilight was right, but the legend of humans was a story that should be kept a secret. Michael was the one who responded to Twilight's proposition. "You may tell the ones in this room, but I think it to be best if Equestria stays oblivious to the cruelty of the past" "I agree", both Luna and Celestia said together. "It is important that the events of the past do not corrupt the good hearts of all those who live here in peace", Celestia added. Twilight explained everything that she had heard from Celestia. Michael said nothing. His eyes were closed as he was forced to remember his dark past. When Twilight got to the part where he fought his brothers, tears flowed from his closed eyes, but he did not make a sound. After the story, all of the six friends and Shining Armour were silent for a long time. None of them could fully grasp the depth of the angels suffering, but they all realized that they had been too quick to judge him. "I decided to give him another chance", Twilight said. "I met him on the bridge outside the castle this morning. I found that he could be another friend, if only we allow ourselves give him a chance". The angel had opened his eyes again. "I hope you will do the same", Twilight finished. "While you all think about this, let's move to the urgent matter of why Michael is here in the first place", Celestia proclaimed. "We have waited with this for far too long. Equestria is in danger and without a plan to stop Atum Ra, Equestria is doomed" This brought the attention for the matter back to the group. Everyone directed their view to Michael, they expected him to have a plan ready. "I know how to fight", Michael spoke, "and I can train those who are willing to fight with me. But beware, the path of a warrior is filled with regret. It will change the lives of those who join me forever. They might die, and even if they live to tell the tale, they might never find peace again". These words made great impact on the group. They understood that in order to fight such evil, they would have to give up their peaceful life, and learn the truth about warfare. "There is another way", Celestia spoke. "The Elements of Harmony". "Even if you could find someone to wield them", Michael said, "They alone would not be enough to stop him. I would have to weaken him first. And I don't think I am able to do so on my own". "We do have the elements of harmony", Rainbow Dash spoke while she jumped up. "It's the six of us!". This clearly took the angel by surprise. "Impossible", he claimed. "After you left, Luna and I found a way Michael", Celestia said. "It was the love of this land that made it possible for us to wield them". "I don't believe it", Michael said, "this is something I dared not hope to see in my days" "We already succeeded in defeating two enemies in the past years", Rainbow Dash spoke again, "we're totally able to take on this enemy of yours". "I wouldn't speak so lightly about that", Michael spoke to Rainbow Dash, "but this at least gives us a fighting chance." "What we need now is one who is trained in the art of warfare magic, like I am.", Michael continued, "but only someone with considerable strength and strong ties to the love of this land can withstand it's tainted effects. Is there someone in this land who could stand up to this challenge?". "I'll take that task upon me", Shining Armour said while standing up. "I will gladly lay down my life if it means that Equestria can live in peace." “And his wife will make sure his heart stays in the right place”, Luna said while smiling. "It is decided then", Celestia spoke. "Michael will learn Shining Armour new kinds of magic. Luna and I will see to your mastery over the elements of harmony", she directed to the six friends. "You are all in my gratitude of standing up to the challenge of defending Equestria again, it means everything to us to have such loyal subjects"
1 - An unexpected arrivalIt was a summer's morning. The sun had not yet given the fullness of it's warmth. A soothing breeze came through the opened window. It carried the smell of the bakery a couple of streets away. Soon, as the sun would rise, it would become very warm. Most of the working ponies wanted to do their work before then, no one liked to work in the heat of the day. There were a few pegasi moving some stubborn clouds that had formed during the coolness of the night. A few birds sang a song to welcome another beautiful day. Life was as it had always been in Equestria. No need to rush, everything went, as most of the times, according to plan. Twilight Sparkle woke up from the smell of the bakery. Her stomach growled as she smelled the delicious scent of fresh baked bread. Spike was, as he did every morning, already up making her breakfast. As always, it was a few slices of bread, some flower petals and a nice glass of apple juice. "Nothing better than to start the morning then with a good breakfast", she thought to herself. After her breakfast, Twilight went to the main room in her library to retrieve the books she was studying. She still had a lot of work to do before she would be able to take her next magic test. She decided to do some practice with spells she had already mastered before she would dive into the books, . "It's important to keep refining your skills, even after you are fully capable of performing them", Celestia had once said to her. So she did. A few weeks ago, she had studied transportation magic. There were a few spells she wanted to try again, like the portal spell and the teleportation of objects on short distances. "Spike!", Twilight said. "Could you fill a few crates with something so that I can practice teleportation of objects again?". "Sure!", Spike yelled from the other room. "Good", Twilight thought, "Now I can open a few portals while Spike prepares the teleportation practice" It had cost her more than a month to get it right, but she was now fully capable to open up portals for short to medium distances. "For this practice, I'll simply open a portal to my bedroom, and then to the main room", she spoke to herself. Her horn glowed while she concentrated on opening the portal. After a few seconds, the air in front of her began to glow as well. Then, it was like someone pulled open an invisible curtain. The opening revealed a passage to her room. Twilight stepped through the portal into her room. "Phew", she sighed, "Now to the main library room". Again, the air was pulled open and she stepped through the portal into the main library room. "Perfect!", she said while showing a smile, "I'm starting to get really good at conjuring portals now". She closed the portals with another spell. She was about to go out to the kitchen to meet Spike, but he came running into the room before she was able to. "Twilight", he looked worried. "I just received this letter from the princess, it wasn't sealed like it normally is... you might want to take a look at it". Twilight used her levitation magic to open the letter. It looked like the princess didn't have much time to write it, the characters were messy and it only contained a few words: "Twilight, gather your friends and come as quick as you can. Very important. Equestria might be in danger". Twilights expression went from slightly glad to very worried. "Equestria in danger?", she said with a low voice. It took her a moment to make sense of what the princess had written. "Come spike, we must hurry. Go get Pinkie Pie and Rarity while I get Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy". "You got it!", Spike replied as he ran outside. About fifteen minutes later, all six friends had joined in front of the library. Twilight had already told them what she had heard from Celestia. All of them looked worried. "Celestia isn't normally as brief as this", Applejack said. "We must hurry, this might get real ugly real fast" "Spike, please stay here and keep an eye on the library, i’ll let you know what’s happening as soon as I can". Twilight said. Spike clearly didn’t agree, but he nodded anyway. "I'll open a portal to Canterlot", Twilight said. "It's further than I have ever tried, but it's the fastest way to get there. Make sure you step through it as fast as possible, because I don't know how long I can keep it open". "Do we have to?" Fluttershy asked. She looked scared. Her wings were clenched to her body and her ears hang down. Her eyes were large, but her pupils had constricted to tiny circles. "If Equestria is in danger, we have to do everything we can!" Rainbow Dash said firmly. "Come on darling", Rarity spoke. "The throne room is the safest place we could be right now. It's filled with royal guard, and don't forget that the princess Celestia and Luna are there too!" This set Fluttershy somewhat at ease. Twilight had a lot of trouble opening a portal on this range. Her horn sparkled, she was heavily sweating, but she did it, the portal opened. As quick as they could, the six friends jumped through it. Twilight could only keep the portal opened for a few seconds, but they all made it through before it closed. What they saw then took them a few moments to grasp. This was not what they had in mind. The room was indeed filled with royal guard. They were all standing in a large circle formation, weapons drawn. The pegasi guards were flying above the circle, making it more of a half sphere. They too had drawn their weapons. The unicorn guards had split up. Half of them were at the throne, casting a protective barrier around the two princesses, Celestia and Luna. The others were part of the sphere formation, horns glowing, ready to attack. Right in front of the protective barrier, facing the middle of the sphere formation was Shining Armour. He also had his horn glowing, but looked much calmer than the other guards. He analyzed the situation carefully. However, clearly not knowing what to expect, he had his guard up. Celestia and Luna both looked as if what they were seeing was the last thing they had expected, but not as if they had not expected it at all. They both stood upright, as the royalties they were, ready to face anything that came their way. Only slightly letting their fear shine through the almost impeccable expressions on their faces. The atmosphere of the room was heavy. Not only from the high tension from the situation, but also literally. It was if there was a lightning storm going on, only without thunder. Electricity flashed through the air all around the room. Twilight knew that this was some sort of powerful magic. And it all seemed to radiate from the middle of the sphere formation that the guards had formed. In the middle of the sphere formation there was another creature. Something Twilight had never seen before. It was standing upright, on two legs. It's head was on top of it's body. In fact, anatomy wise it wasn't very different from a pony. it's arms hung from down it's shoulders. It was very masculine. It’s arms were as thick as two of her hoofs put together. It did not seem to have a coat. It seemed like the only hair it had was on it's head and it's chest. On it's back where a pair of majestic wings. They rose above it's head and went down to just below it's waist. They were closed, but Twilight imagined they had a span of about three meters across. It had a red cloth belt tied around a cloth sort of pants that dropped down to just below it's knees. It had relatively large feet, instead of hooves. It's head was bowed down, it's chin rested on it's bare chest. It's eyes were closed, as if it did not need to see what was happening, as if it could feel what was happening all around it. It seemed as if it was fully at rest. It did not seem to have it's guard up, even though it was surrounded by over one hundred guards, all with drawn weapons.
2 - Actions and consequencesEverything went too fast for Twilight. First, she got a letter telling her that something terrible was coming up and now it had already happened? What happened? What was that creature? What were it's intentions? What was her teacher doing? She had so many questions, but right now there was nothing she could do. The portal had brought them right into the middle of the chaos. They were outside of the circle, on the other side of the room from the princesses. There was no way to reach them. Celestia had seen them enter the room. She signaled Twilight to stand still. "Stay here everyone!" Twilight said to her friends, "Until we know what is going on we should not provoke that creature". It came too late. Rainbow Dash had already taken off. A few moments later she landed in front of the creature. "Hey you!", she yelled, "What in the hay do you think you're doing!" "MOVE AWAY FROM THERE RAINBOW DASH", Celestia said with a strong, royal voice. "She is of no threat to you", she spoke to the creature. The creature raised it's head and opened it's eyes. The expression on his face clearly showed his patience was running short. "You know I did not come here to fight", it spoke with a surprisingly soft voice. Then with a firmer, almost threatening voice it said: "If I wanted to harm you I would have destroyed this city long before you would have realized that I was here". It closed it's eyes and sighed. This was the moment Shining Armour saw an opening. The creature’s guard was down, even if it was for just a moment. He jumped on the opportunity to attack. The next events happened in a split second. Shining Armour had jumped towards the creature, his horn glowing more fiercely than before. He was ready to fire his shot. Celestia raised her hoof, as if she wanted to grab the captain of the guard and stop him. Her mouth opened to call him back, but it was too late. The electricity in the air crackled loudly. Shining Armour realized that the creature had not dropped it's guard. He had made a grave mistake. The creature's arm shot out. It glowed the same way a unicorn's horn glowed when casting magic. It’s open palm crashed into his chest. His armour cracked under the pressure of the enormous force of the hit. He was thrown back into the wall behind the princesses, where he landed on the ground. He did not move. The electricity faded from the room. The guards that surrounded the creature watched with open mouths as their captain was defeated in a single hit. They took a step back, not knowing what to do for a second. Their loyalty would soon compel them to launch an all out attack. A battle, they all knew, they would not win. "ALL OF YOU, LOWER YOUR WEAPONS!" Princess Celestia stepped forward, commanding the guards with the majestic tone of real royalty. "This is far beyond any of your power!", she said while lowering her voice and almost whispering she added: "Or mine" They obeyed their ruler. Twilight saw her brother's defeat. His landing against the wall, his fall on the ground. Tears shot into her eyes when she saw that he did not move after that. Like everyone, she realized that the force behind the attack of the creature was enough to destroy a building. She had to see to her brother! Her horn glowed as she teleported herself to his side. She didn’t even hear the princesses command to stay where she was. Her head brushed against his, as she asked what was on everyone's mind now. "Shining Armour?” “Big brother?” “Are you alright?” “Shining Armour!" He did not respond. She put her hoofs on his chest and shook his motionless body. "Wake up!” “Wake up!” “Shining Armour!” Tears were dripping from her face as she yelled in powerless frustration. “Wake up... PLEASE!" Everyone else in the room was silent. They could not believe what had just happened. All of them stood still, they could not move, they could not speak, they were completely frozen. They all felt as hopeless as Twilight. Their captain was defeated and there was nothing any of them could have done. The attack had come so fast that they didn't realize it had happened before Shining Armour had hit the ground. The creature sighed. "I'm sorry", it said, again with a soft voice, "it should not have come to this" It stepped towards Twilight and Shining Armour. The guards in it's path stepped aside. They would not dare draw their weapons anymore. It kneeled next to twilight, who was in tears. Sinking her head in Shining Armour's side. "I'm sorry little one, please, let me make this right" "You monster!" Twilight sobbed, watching the creature right in the eye. "You killed my brother! Get away from him!" She tried to push the creature away, frustrated, powerless, hopeless. The whole room held it's breath for what the creature would do. But it did nothing. It did not attack. The creature put one hand on Shining Armour's body. Twilight tried to stop it. She knew that she could do nothing against this creature that was almost three times bigger than she was, but in her sorrow she tried everything she could to keep him away. “Please... just leave us alone!”, she yelled. The creature's hand began to glow. After a few moments, the glow radiated to Shining Armour's entire body. This went on for about a minute. Twilight had moved in front of the creature, still sobbing while banging her head against it’s chest, as if she wanted to hurt him. Then, Shining Armour inhaled deeply and a few moments after that, opened his eyes. He looked confused. "Do you remember what happened?" The creature asked. "Yes", Shining Armour replied. He tried to pull Twilight away from the creature’s chest. Afraid that it would hurt her too. "I'm truly sorry about what I did" it said. "I let my frustration get the better of me, and defended against your attack, knowing that it was too powerful for you". It bowed its head. "I'm sorry", it whispered. "Even after all this time, I'm only human"
3 - An ancient threatAfter Twilight had realized that her brother was alive, she jumped on him, hooves around his neck. "Shining Armour! I... I thought I'd lost you", she said, tears still in her eyes. "I'm alright Twily", he responded in a soft tone and a with smile while putting his own hooves around her. "I'm alright". As Shining Armour got up, the atmosphere in the room went from shocked to worried. Everyone has the same questions on their mind. What had just happened? Who is that creature? What's a human? Why is he here? Celestia knew she would have to explain, so she took a step forward. "Everypony! Please, calm down”, she said. Shining Armour is alright. All guards, except for Shining Armour, leave us" This caused much mumbling and disagreement, but they listened, knowing better than to disobey an order of their princess during such times. "You six should also stay", she said to Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. They gathered into a circle and sat down. The human was very big compared to the rest of them while standing, but while sitting down the difference was only about the size of it's head. He was back to his calm self again. As if nothing could bother him, his face only gave away a little sadness. He sat down with his legs crossed, his arms in rest on top of them. The other's could not keep their eyes away from the, in their eyes, dangerous creature. After some time, completely unexpected, Fluttershy was the first to ask the human a question. "Um... excuse me", she whispered. "Could you... um... tell us what kind of creature you are?" She quickly added "If you want to", while turning her head away, as if she expected him to explode in fury against her. "No!", Celestia interrupted. "Tell me why you are here. You promised me to never set foot in Equestria again" The others were surprised about that last sentence. Clearly this human and the princess had a history. The human nodded. He bowed his head, as if he was deep in thought. "I never stayed far away of Equestria", he spoke. "We know", Celestia said. "Then you also know about my countless battles against your enemies", he responded while looking Celestia right in the eyes. This time Celestia looked down, as if she was ashamed. "I know", she whispered, "I meant to thank you one day, I really did." "I never asked for your gratitude princess", his tone became deeper, more emotional, “all I ever asked for was a place in this land, something you denied me." These words seemed to touch Celestia deeply. For the slightest of moments, she showed deep shame. "I was afraid", she said. "I was afraid that, even though you were noble and honest, your past would taint us eventually. It was a risk we could not take." "I know my flaws princess", it replied. "You made your decision and I accepted it. But even though I was rejected, my promise from before compelled me to keep this land safe." Celestia replied with a bit of disbelief in her voice. "You mean to say that you held your promise, even though we broke our end of it?" "Yes", he simply replied. A moment of silence followed. No one knew what to say, or to whom. For the six, none of their questions had been answered. No, they only had more questions now. What was the human's relationship with Celestia? She clearly knows him and has dealt with him before. What was he doing all this time? What did he promise? What are his intentions? "I will tell you why I came here, and then I will leave", the human finally spoke. "You do not seem to have changed your mind, even after all this time". Celestia's face didn't show her emotions. She knew that this man would never have come here if it was not crucial. She had to know why before she would respond to his accusation. She had to know for the sake of her subjects. "I fought an old enemy two weeks ago in the desert lands to the south of Equestria", he said. "Atum Ra" This was something that clearly upset both princesses. "That can not be", Luna claimed. This was the first time she spoke during the whole ordeal. "He was defeated more than two thousand years ago! You yourself locked him in his eternal prison beneath the desert sand" Her voice and face expressed fear. It seems that this was an enemy that even the two rulers of Equestria were afraid of. Apparently even more than of the human that sat in front of them. "This is terrible news", Celestia spoke to the six. "An ancient evil that we had locked away, has returned" "You said you fought him", Rainbow Dash directed her question towards the human. "You showed us your strength just a minute ago, you must have defeated him". Even though she said it as a statement, the doubt in her voice showed that it was more of a question. "What you saw was nothing like my true strength", the human said. "But even with all my might, I could not hope to defeat an ancient creature like that". He bowed his head, carefully considering his next words. "I managed to imprison him in the southern desert once again, but, I was badly injured during our fight, and I could not imprison him for long". Celestia and Luna knew exactly what the human was about to say. “He will return, and it will be sooner than later". A moment of silence followed. "When he is freed, he will be much stronger than he was two weeks ago, and I fear that I will not be able to stop him again" "If nothing is done, Equestria will be destroyed when he returns"
4 - Identities revealedThey sat there in silence for more than ten minutes. Nobody dared to say a word. The expression on the human's face was dead serious. He had told them the truth, and they all knew it. Equestria was in great danger. "I must go", the human finally spoke, "it is clear that I am still not welcome here. I will find a way on my own" He looked sad when he said those words. "Wait", Luna spoke while she jumped up, "things have changed since you were last here. We were wrong" "What do you mean?", the human asked, showing his surprise. "Luna was corrupted one thousand years ago", Celestia spoke. "It seems that evil does exist inside of us, even though I thought we had banished it forever" The human considered these words for a moment. "Your kind shows great resistance", he then spoke, "but with time, even the strongest of us can fall, I told you this before" "And you were right", Luna continued, "if you would have been around, maybe your experience could have guided us, but we were afraid that you would be the cause of evil in this land" "What's done is done, and could not have happened otherwise", the human said, "the question is, what will you do now that you have learned the truth?" Celestia and Luna didn't respond, they were considering their options. "Give us a moment", Celestia finally spoke, "Luna, come with me please" Luna didn't say a word, she went to the next room with Celestia. This left Shining Armour, Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy together with the human. The expression on the human's face was more gentle now, he had done what he had set out to do, it was up to the princesses to make a decision. "You asked me what kind of creature I am", the human spoke to Fluttershy, "The short answer is that I am human, but that is not entirely accurate. Before ponies came to this world, I was a human. The main difference between humans and me, is that humans do not have wings or magic. Humans are, however, very strong compared to the strength of ponies. I would classify myself at about ten times as strong as an average pony when I was still human. I travelled around the entire world and in time, I found myself absorbing various essences from this word. You know these essences as magic. Only a select few humans have been able to attain magic, since none of us are born with it. After I learned how to perform magic, it's effects slowly transformed me until I became a mythical creature of my time. " "We were called Angels." "What's your name?" Pinkie Pie asked. Now that the tension of the first meeting had gone away, she was back to her cheerful self. "The name I once had I have long forgotten", he said in a low voice, "the enemies of this land simply call me 'The Angel". Before he could continue, a voice from behind them said: "We know him as Michael". It was Luna, she had returned from her meeting with Celestia, but Celestia herself was still in the other room. "He is the last of his kind, the legendary race of humans" "That is correct", Michael responded. "The ancient scriptures of my time spoke of legions of angels. It was said that their leaders were called ‘Archangels. The writings told us about six archangels. One of them was named Michael, that is the name I choose for myself." "How old are you?" Rarity asked. "By what princess Luna said earlier, you must be more than two thousand years old" "Yes", Michael responded, "The line of humans was ended a little over three thousand years ago, roughly five hundred years after ponies first came to existence. I was sixty years old when I transcended to be an angel. That was about thirty eight hundred years ago" "What happened to the others of your kind?", Applejack asked. Michael's face expressed sadness and anger at the same time. "It's a long and painful story", he responded, "I will tell you when and if the time is right." Finally Shining Armour had a question. "What is your relationship with the princesses?", he asked. He tried to read the faces of both Luna and Michael, but was not able to determine what was going on in their thoughts. "That too is a long story", Michael said. "Let's just say that we met after they had taken over the rule of Equestria. I stayed within it's borders for a while, before Luna and Celestia decided that my presence was a danger to your peace. They were right, at least, that is what I thought back then. We agreed that I would never return to Equestria, the rest has already been revealed by our conversation earlier" "Michael". Celestia had returned from the other room, and directed her speech towards the angel. "We are greatly in your debt. Without you, Equestria would be in constant war with the forces of evil. You have given us the peace that we have lived in for over two thousand years. I know not why you did not give up after such a long time, but I am eternally grateful to you" Michael did not respond, so Celestia continued her speech. "The news you bring is terrible. We must prepare for a war that our kind has not seen for many generations. I'm afraid that we can never hope to defend ourselves during these times. Not even the Elements of Harmony could bring Atum Ra to his knees so long ago. Please, I beg of you, even though we do not deserve any of your kindness, help us defeat this evil. Help us prepare for the fight that is to come". The tremor in Celestia's voice gave away that she did not want to ask this. She knew it wasn't in her right to ask such a thing from the angel. "Dear Celestia", Michael responded, again with a kindness in his voice, "you know you can ask me anything any time. I owe so much to the short time I lived in these borders, and I swore to be there for Equestria, always. I'm glad that I get to live here once more.” "Thank you", Celestia replied, faintly smiling. "You all must still have so much to ask me", Michael said to everyone in the circle, "But I must ask you to keep those questions with you for a while. My wounds have only barely healed, and I must rest from the journey I made to get here. Please, come see me in the morning. We will talk then". Michael rose up and walked out of the room. He seemed to know where he was going. Shining Armour followed him from a distance. He wanted to know where this man was going and he had to make sure that no pony disturbed him. He still didn’t trust the angel. Once outside, Michael spread his wings, and with a mighty swing, he soared up towards the mountain top, where he hid between the clouds. "He will return in the morning Captain", Luna said from behind Shining Armour, "Trust him, he will never betray a promise he made". "Can I ever fully trust someone that almost killed me without the slightest hesitation? He's dangerous!" Shining Armour said in a deep voice. "Please forgive him” Luna responded, “He has come to know great pain in the past. Their kind never ceases to struggle with evil"
5 - Of angels and demonsTwilight could not sleep. She remembered how she woke up this morning. She remembered the bakery. Then she remembered holding her brother in her arms. She remembered being so desperate. Tears welled up in her eyes again. That monster killed her brother. He can not be trusted. But her teacher and princess Luna seemed to have forgiven him so easily. How could they do that? What was going on? She decided to get up. She couldn't sleep with so many questions on her mind. She needed to know the truth. She had to know what happened to humans. The Canterlot library would surely have the answer. She was careful not to wake any of her friends, who were also sleeping in the same palace room as she was. Luckily, they were all soundly asleep, tired from the events that had transpired today. She made her way to the library. It was only a few streets away from the palace. When she got to the library, she found that the door was unlocked. That was unusual. The library should have been closed at this hour. She still had the key from when she was still studying in Canterlot, but apparently someone else was also in need of knowledge at this hour. She walked into the library. "Hello? is anypony there?" she asked. "Twilight Sparkle", it was princess Celestia, "I should have known that you would not be able to sleep after what happened today". "Princess Celestia?" She had not expected to meet the princess here at this hour. "I'm sorry, I had to know what a human was doing in Equestria, so I came here to investigate" "The legends of humans can no longer be found in this library", Celestia answered. "It is a legend that could harm our peace in so many ways. But you deserve an explanation after what happened today". "It all started about ten thousand years ago", Celestia began. "Humans were a noble race, that ruled this world with their ingenious minds and their technology. They were always busy inventing something new to make their lives easier. They did not possess magic, nor could they fly, but they managed to invent machines that performed all the things that we use magic and flight for. Then, after about four thousand years, the first human obtained magic. When his fellow humans discovered this, they were so afraid that they banished him from their lands. It was decreed that any who sought magic would be severely punished. After that, some humans decided to hunt the magic user. They managed to kill him. This was the first known act of human cruelty. Humans have a strong tendency to fear and exclude everything they view as different or out of the ordinary. After that, human history is filled with horrors. There were countless wars in the next two thousand years. The human race was divided into five tribes and every tribe fought the others to gain power over the world. The legends tell us that every one of the five tribes had a son born during the same week. These sons grew up into the strongest warriors the human race had ever seen. All of them became the leader of their tribe. They still continued waging war against each other. After numerous battles, each of the men appeared to be just as strong as the others. None of the tribes could win, and with so much death and destruction, the five men decided to stop their struggle for power. The tribe leaders realized that them being born in the same week was an act of fate. They were brothers, even though their blood was not related. They thought that they were tasked by fate to stop the endless bloodshed. The tribes each went their separate ways, colonizing different corners of the world. There was peace for the first time in two thousand years. The five men left their tribe to learn what they could about the world. During their travels, all of them attained magic powers. Michael was one of the tribes leaders. He was also the first to have ascended to being an angel. Immortal, wise and strong. The others would soon follow his ascension, as it was their destiny. They all considered Michael as their oldest brother, their leader." Celestia paused for a second. Twilight had been listening to the story intently. As the scholar she was, she was always looking for new knowledge to obtain. The look on her face told Celestia that she was eagerly waiting to hear the rest of the story. "However", Celestia continued, "Peace is always short lived with humans. With their new found power, the angels went back to their tribes, where they were all cast out. The humans, who were all still strong believers of science, could not except magic as their new ally, nor did they want to accept the other tribes as their equals. This upset the angels. It did not take long for four of them to grasp back on their human origins, and their anger consumed their hearts. In a meeting the five of them had, all but one swore to wage war against their own race. They were deeply corrupted, and them being so much more powerful meant that none of the tribes stood a chance. Michael tried to reason with them, he tried to stop them, and finally, he tried to force them, but he could not overpower his brethren. He was chained by the other angels on the top of the mountain of Canterlot, where he could see everything that would transpire that day. They each went out to perform the greatest evil this world has ever seen. Millions were killed in a single day. Everything was destroyed. Everything but the last tribe, Michael's tribe. When the four angels were done with their own tribes, they all faced to destroy the last standing tribe of humans. Michael however, because of the horrors he had witnessed from his prison, had summoned so much power that he was able to escape. But he was too late. His brothers had destroyed his tribe before he was able to get there. In his blind fury he waged war against his own brothers. The battle lasted for weeks. One against four. His pain had made Michael so strong that he, in the end, was able to defeat his brothers. One by one, he killed them. After that, his soul was deeply scarred. His fury had subsided, but revenge had not brought him peace. Nothing could soothe the pain of his loss. He had lost his brothers and the entire human race. In his grief, he returned to the place he had been imprisoned. He must have sat on the Canterlot mountains for centuries. Probably blaming himself for all that had transpired. Then, our ancestors founded Equestria. Michael saw everything what transpired during the next years. The peace that the ponies had. The balance in our lives, the harmony we had created. It is said that whenever evil was lurking, it was stopped by an unknown force. No one knew that it was, in fact, Michael who had taken it upon himself to defend this new ‘tribe’. I think he wanted to amend for the crimes he thought he had committed. Then Luna and I came to power in Equestria. We travelled a lot ourselves. When we came to the Canterlot mountain ridge, we felt a strange presence. As we went to investigate, we found the angel on the top of the mountain. His back facing us, he didn't speak as we approached him. We sat next to him for a while, probably days, admiring the view we had from the mountain's top. He could see everything that transpired in the entirety of Equestria, and he taught us to do so as well. That is why we build Canterlot and the royal palace on this mountain. He also promised us that whatever happened, he would do anything in his power to defend the harmony of Equestria and he asked us to trust him. He then told us his story. We did not know what to say, and that was probably the best response we could have given him. He started to trust us in return. We spoke to him often, and after a while, we asked him to come live with us in the castle. He accepted. The other ponies were very cautious of him, and he noticed this as well. He started to become bitter towards us, probably because he remembered what had caused his brothers to end the human race. He told us that the same feelings still resided deep in his heart, but that he would never lay a finger on this land. We saw the anger grow inside of him however, and we decided that it was best to ask him to leave. It took us awhile to summon the courage, for we were afraid that he would follow his brethren and would go on a rampage after we would reject him. None of that happened. He was sad, very sad, but he left without ever disagreeing with us. We thought we had found true peace. We thought that no evil from inside would hurt us any more" “We were so wrong” The princess noticed that the night would soon end. The moon had already moved out of sight. "Come", She said to Twilight, "Get some rest, the day before us will be long". "Princess", Twilight said, "Can I ask one more thing?". "Of course my faithful student", Celestia responded. "Are our hearts different from humans?". Celestia had not expected her student to ask this question so soon. "She is sharp as always", she thought to herself. She turned around to face Twilight. "No", she said. "I have come to learn that the same evil lies locked within our hearts. However, unlike the humans, we have had an angel watching us day and night to make sure that our hearts would be able to resist evil. We should be forever grateful for that".
6 - To save the worldMichael landed in front of the castle without any sound. In all his time as an angel he had learned to be extremely light on his feet. Even pegasi made sounds as they moved, but the angel did not. He stood there for a second while he folded his majestic wings onto his back. He pondered at the times he stood here, over one thousand years ago. The time when he left, walking over the very path he was now standing on. He remembered how he didn't look back. He remembered his fury about the situation. He remembered his sadness. He remembered his tears... He stared out over the small river that streamed in front of the castle. There was a bridge that spanned over it, allowing access to the castle. He stood at the edge of the bridge, still deep in thought. "Hey... um.... good.. eeh... good morning" a voice from behind him said. It was Twilight Sparkle. Michael turned around. "Oh, hello little one", he said, "I'm terribly sorry about what I put you through yesterday, I truly am. I hope that you can forgive me in time". He smiled ever so slightly. Twilight let out a slight sigh. "My name is Twilight Sparkle", she said, "I heard your story". That clearly upset the angel. His face showed sadness again. "That story is not meant for this land", he said, "she should not have told you". "I can not say I fully understand", Twilight responded, "but your story moved me. I was very upset yesterday. But I forgive you. And I know Shining Armour will also forgive you" The angel had bowed his head again. A single tear dropped from his eyes. "I do not deserve such kindness miss Sparkle. But thank you. Thank you so much. You can not begin to realize how much those words mean to me". Twilight wanted to help him somehow. She felt like the person in front of her was completely void. Like his existence had no meaning to himself. Like nothing could ever fill the emptiness in his heart again. She did the only thing that she thought she could do. She walked up to him, stood up onto her hind legs and put her front legs around his neck, resting his head on her left shoulder. This made the angel even more emotional. He let out a slight sound, as if he was crying inside. He put his arms around twilight's back. "You truly are too kind to me miss Sparkle", he whispered. "You can call me Twilight if you want, miss Sparkle is too formal", Twilight said after she had let go of the angel. The angel smiled. "Alright Twilight, I'll do that", Michael responded, "But only if you will call me Michael in return". Twilight smiled. "I will." They walked to the castle together. Twilight talked about her library in Ponyville. She told Michael about her studies, about Celestia being her teacher, about what she had learned about friendship. Michael didn't say much. He smiled all the way to the castle. He was clearly happy about the way Twilight talked to him. When they arrived at the throne room, Shining Armour was waiting outside the door. He frowned as he saw twilight talking to the angel that had made her experience such a tragedy the other day. "Can I talk to you for a second sis?", he asked Twilight. "You should get inside, the others are waiting for you", he said to Michael in a monotone voice. Michael nodded. "Alright", was all he said as he walked in. He knew it would take time to mend the wounds that he had inflicted upon the mind of the captain. When Michael was inside, Shining Armour started speaking to Twilight "What was that? have you lost your mind? He's dangerous!" Twilight bowed her head. "No he's not. You have no idea what he's gone through!" she spoke. "Twilight", Shining Armour replied, "have you forgotten what happened yesterday?" "No!", she responded. "But princess Celestia told me what happened in his past, and even though I do not fully understand, he deserves another chance!". Shining Armour frowned. "Princess Luna said the same thing to me yesterday. I hope you're right Twily" He looked troubled. "We should get inside", he said as he turned around. Inside the others were already gathered around a circular table. Celestia and Luna sat next to each other, facing the door. Michael sat next to Luna, then there was a gap of two chairs. Then there was Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie sat next to Celestia. It was clear that the five friends didn't dare to sit next to the angel yet. In their minds, he could not be trusted. Twilight chose to sit next to Applejack, making the row of six friends complete. Shining Armour took his place between Twilight and Michael. The six friends all had their attention on the angel. Twilight was the first to speak. "Princesses, if I may", she started. Both Luna and Celestia nodded. They wanted to know what would come next. "Princess Celestia told me the legend of humans tonight", Twilight continued, "I think everyone here should know what transpired in the ancient past. So that everyone here might understand what Michael is doing here". Celestia bit her lip. She knew Twilight was right, but the legend of humans was a story that should be kept a secret. Michael was the one who responded to Twilight's proposition. "You may tell the ones in this room, but I think it to be best if Equestria stays oblivious to the cruelty of the past" "I agree", both Luna and Celestia said together. "It is important that the events of the past do not corrupt the good hearts of all those who live here in peace", Celestia added. Twilight explained everything that she had heard from Celestia. Michael said nothing. His eyes were closed as he was forced to remember his dark past. When Twilight got to the part where he fought his brothers, tears flowed from his closed eyes, but he did not make a sound. After the story, all of the six friends and Shining Armour were silent for a long time. None of them could fully grasp the depth of the angels suffering, but they all realized that they had been too quick to judge him. "I decided to give him another chance", Twilight said. "I met him on the bridge outside the castle this morning. I found that he could be another friend, if only we allow ourselves give him a chance". The angel had opened his eyes again. "I hope you will do the same", Twilight finished. "While you all think about this, let's move to the urgent matter of why Michael is here in the first place", Celestia proclaimed. "We have waited with this for far too long. Equestria is in danger and without a plan to stop Atum Ra, Equestria is doomed" This brought the attention for the matter back to the group. Everyone directed their view to Michael, they expected him to have a plan ready. "I know how to fight", Michael spoke, "and I can train those who are willing to fight with me. But beware, the path of a warrior is filled with regret. It will change the lives of those who join me forever. They might die, and even if they live to tell the tale, they might never find peace again". These words made great impact on the group. They understood that in order to fight such evil, they would have to give up their peaceful life, and learn the truth about warfare. "There is another way", Celestia spoke. "The Elements of Harmony". "Even if you could find someone to wield them", Michael said, "They alone would not be enough to stop him. I would have to weaken him first. And I don't think I am able to do so on my own". "We do have the elements of harmony", Rainbow Dash spoke while she jumped up. "It's the six of us!". This clearly took the angel by surprise. "Impossible", he claimed. "After you left, Luna and I found a way Michael", Celestia said. "It was the love of this land that made it possible for us to wield them". "I don't believe it", Michael said, "this is something I dared not hope to see in my days" "We already succeeded in defeating two enemies in the past years", Rainbow Dash spoke again, "we're totally able to take on this enemy of yours". "I wouldn't speak so lightly about that", Michael spoke to Rainbow Dash, "but this at least gives us a fighting chance." "What we need now is one who is trained in the art of warfare magic, like I am.", Michael continued, "but only someone with considerable strength and strong ties to the love of this land can withstand it's tainted effects. Is there someone in this land who could stand up to this challenge?". "I'll take that task upon me", Shining Armour said while standing up. "I will gladly lay down my life if it means that Equestria can live in peace." “And his wife will make sure his heart stays in the right place”, Luna said while smiling. "It is decided then", Celestia spoke. "Michael will learn Shining Armour new kinds of magic. Luna and I will see to your mastery over the elements of harmony", she directed to the six friends. "You are all in my gratitude of standing up to the challenge of defending Equestria again, it means everything to us to have such loyal subjects"
